Chair spacing device



1933- G. w. HAMBROOK ET AL 1,931,239

CHAIR SPACING DEVICE Filed Jan. 22, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ewen/1&5- George III Hbm brook 10617161 I (Karin,

Oct. 17, 1933. G. w. HAM'BROOK ET AL 1,931,239

I CHAIR SPACING DEVICE 7 Filed Jan. 22; 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I EZ/LTSTLMS: figwrge Zlllfambrooio, ZUGTTLE/T Ola-win,

Patented Oct. 17, 1933 CHAIR SPACING DEVICE George W. Hambrook, Oalr Park, and Werner E. Clarin, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Clarin Mfg. 00., Chicago, Ill.,

Illinois a. corporation of? Application January 22, 1932. Serial Nd. 588,096 3 Claims. (01. 155-130) This invention relates to devices for spacing and locking in spaced position portable chairs on floors of auditoriums. The laws of several of the States require that portable chairs used in auditoriums must be locked together in suitably spaced relation between rows and also attached sidewise, the reason therefor being that in case of 'fire or other accident tending to create a panic, loose chairs would otherwise be knocked and thrown about in every direction and thus'greatly impede the safe exit of the audience. Heretofore the spacing of rows of portable chairs has been accomplished by the use of flat thininetal strips laid on the floor and equipp d with upstanding pins or lugs that fit holes in the lower ends of the chair legs. This prevents independent sliding of the chairs on the floor, but is an imperfect device for the intended purpose, because if any chair be raised slightly the legs or feet of the chair become disengaged from the strips and the chair can then become easily shifted so as to block the passageway between adjacent rows of chairs.

One object of the present invention has been to provide an improved chair spacing equipment of the type employing floor rails or bars at the ends of the rows of chairs, wherein the chairs will be securely locked to the rails or bars so that they cannot be accidentally displaced from the latter and thus moved out of the rows. Another object has been to provide an improved sectional form of floor rail wherein the adjacent rail sections will be positively locked together through the agency of devices by which the chairs themselves are locked to the rail.

Still otherobjects and attendant advantages of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with this class of devices from the following detailed description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which we have illustrated a simple and practical embodiment of the invention which, in practice, has been found to satisfactorily effectuate the stated purposes and objects thereof, and wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portable chair of the collapsible type,v which may be assumed to be an end chair of a row, showing a portion of the sectional floor rail and the device for locking the chair to the rail.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the locking device, taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a planview of one of the sectionsof the floor rail.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a pair of sectional floor rails such as are employed at the ends of rows .of chairs wherein the chairs of the several rows are arranged in direct fore and aft alignment,

the view also showing the relative locations of the chair feet on the rails;

Fig. 5.is a plan view of one of the rail sections shown in Fig. 4, other than the foremost section.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view in vertical section of the locking device thatappears in edge and side elevation in Figs. 1 and 2 respectively.

Referring to the drawings, each of the sectional floor railstconsists Ora foremost section 10, and duplicate succeeding sections 11. Referring to Fig. 3,.which shows in plan view a front section 10, this consists of a low channel strip adapted to receive the feet 12 of a collapsible portable being designed to underlie the, outer side of an end chair of a front row of chairs. At a substantially central point the strip 10 is formed with an upwardly struckapertured lug 14. Referring to Fig. 5, each of the succeeding sections 11 of the rail consists of an intermediate fiat row-spacing portion 16 and channel-shaped fore and aft end portions 17 and 18 respectively. The forward channel-shaped portion 17 is sufficiently narrower than the rear channel-shaped portion 18 to fit within either the front rail section 10 or the rear portion 18 of the next fore-lying section 11. The portion 17 is formed with a slot 19, and the rear portion 18 is formed with an upstanding apertured lug 14' similar to the aperover the lug 14, as shown in Fig. 1, and the next and succeeding sections 11 are coupled on. in

similar fashion by nesting the front portion 17 in the rear portion 18 of the preceding section, entering the slot 19 over the apertured lug 14'.

Several rows of chairs having been placed in position, as diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 4, adjacent chairs in each row are locked to each other by any suitable or convenient means, such as U-shaped spring clips 20 indicated in Fig. 4, and the end chairs of each row are then looked to the floor rails by any suitable or convenient removable means, so that the legs and feet of the chair cannot be accidentally displaced from the rail. For this purpose we have shown a device comprising essentially an upper hook 21 engaging over the crotch of the chair legs, a lower hook 22 hooking through the lug 14 or 14, and an over-the-center locking lever 23 pivoted at 26 to the upper end of hook 22 and at 2'7 to the chair designated as an entirety by 13, said strip lower end of hook 21 (Fig. 6), thus connecting the two hooks and serving when swung downwardly to tension them and when swung upwardly to release them; Nov novelty is claimed for this specific locking device, which is generally similar to a locking device disclosed in Letters Patent t0 Lambert No. 696,648, April 1, 1902. This locking device not only looks the legs and feet of the chair to the floor rail, but also manifestly positively locks the sections of the rail to each other.

The interfitting channel portions of the rail sections, in theform shown in Fig. '4, not only assist in maintaining the straight alignment of the sections, but they also oppose any side slip of the chair feet 12, so that, when the vertical lock is applied, the end chairs of each row are very securely anchored to the floor rails against possible displacement in any direction, thus maintaining the integrity of the passageways bet-ween adjacent rows. The entire equipment can be set up and taken down in a short space of time,

7 and the sectional character of the parts renders 1. Means for spacing rows of portable chairs I on a floor, comprising, in combination, floor rails formed with channel portions in'which legs of certain corresponding chairs of the rows are set, certain of said channel portions formed with upstanding apertured lugs, removable clamps connecting adjacent chairs in each row to each other, and removable means for locking said corresponding chairs to said floor rails comprising hook members engaged respectively with said 7 corresponding chairs and said apertured lugs, and means for tensioning and releasing said hook members. v

'2'. In apparatus for spacing rows of portable chairs on a floor, in combination, sectional floor rails the sections whereof are formed with channel end portions in which legs of certain corresponding chairs of-the rows are set, the front channel end portion of each section-- interfitting with the rear channel portion of an adjacent section, means for locking said sections together endwise, and removable means for locking said corresponding chairs to said floor rails.

, 3. In apparatus for spacing rows of portable chairs on azfloor, in combination, sectional floor rails the sections whereof are formed with channelend portions in which legs of certain corresponding chairs of the rows are set, the front channel end portion of each section interfitting with the rear channel portion of an adjacent section, means for locking said sections together endwise comprising upstanding apertured lugs in one of said interfitting channel end portions extending through slots in the other interfitting channel end portions, and'remo'vable means for locking said corresponding chairs to said apertured lugs. I

GEORGE W. HAMBROOK. WERNER'E. CLARIN. 

